Investigators are probing whether a 58-year-old dog trainer from Prince's Bay leaped to his death from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge early Friday morning. Staten Island Advance photo

By KEN PAULSEN and JOHN ANNESE

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Investigators are probing whether a 58-year-old dog trainer from Prince's Bay leaped to his death from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge early Friday morning.

At about 12:30 a.m. Friday, a motorist abandoned a Cadillac Escalade on the lower level of the iconic span, and, according to a witness, jumped off, police said.

Police haven't recovered a body, but on Sunday, an NYPD spokesman said that investigators found a license in the vehicle belonging to 58-year-old Angelo Biondo, who lives in the side apartment of a home on Ormsby Avenue in Prince's Bay.

Biondo's landlord, who didn't give her name, said he had moved into the apartment about three years ago. He lived there with his 2-year-old bulldog, Marble, she said.

"He loves her so much, so much," she said of the dog, noting that he recently told a childhood friend, 'If anything happened to me, you have to take care of her.'"

"I think he was planning this."

The landlord said Biondo, who was divorced, ran a dog training business.

"He was so kind. He was normal," she said.

Three of his brothers, a nephew, and two friends came to his apartment to pick up his personal effects, she said.

Public records show Biondo has been the owner of K9 Powerhouse, a kennel and dog training business located in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood.

A source familiar with Biondo said that about two dozen animals are currently in the kennel's care of the business, though that could not be independently verified, as a phone number for the kennel led to voicemail.

The Verrazano has been the scene of at least five suicides and five more attempts, since the end of 2011.

The MTA has installed signs pointing out suicide-prevention phones on the bridge and connecting to 1-800-LIFENET, a suicide-prevention service. The signs read: "Life is worth living."---Follow @siadvance on Twitter